Hermione's Catch 22
by boshrocks
Summary: Hermione is in a bit of a tight spot, as are her best friends. How will they get themselves out of it? better than it sounds, i promise, i suck at summaries. ps italics are hermione's thoughts. please review
1. Ron's Dream

Hermione rubbed tired eyes as she awoke from her seat on the cushy red sofa in the common room. She'd fallen asleep for the third time over her book. _What the hell is wrong with me? Ooh, don't open that door._

Something stirred in her lap. Glancing down she saw that Harry had his head in her lap as he leant back from his seat on the floor in front of her. He was also asleep. How cute. Hermione was very tempted to run her hand through his messy hair. But she also knew that that would wake him up and he looked so peaceful that she couldn't bring herself to.

A resounding snore startled her slightly and she looked over at the other end of the sofa. Ron was unconscious over the arm, drooling on the upholstery and snoring rather badly. Hermione restrained a snigger as one of his legs started kicking, much like a dog's does in the sleep state. He was even whining a little, exactly like a dog. Silently Hermione cracked up as the giggles escaped her.

"Ginny, go 'way!" Ron said suddenly in his sleep. "Don't wanna talk to you right now. Busy."

Hermione was having trouble keeping her sniggers silent. She clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.

"What were you saying Herm? You don't know how to kiss? Well alright, I'll teach you."

_Why was Ron having a dream about teaching me how to kiss?_ Hermione thought as her giggles subsided and Ron lapsed into silent snoring sleep. _Wait, there's a thought. I DON'T know how to kiss!! I've never been kissed! Well, Viktor did but that was only a peck, he was too much of a gentleman to do more. I'm eighteen and I've never been kissed properly. What the hell have I done with my life?_

She glanced at the book she was still holding. It was Advanced Ancient Runes.

_That's what I've been doing with my life. I've been studying. Lavender and Parvati have had hundreds of boyfriends. Well not quite, that's a huge exaggeration but they've still had 99.9 more guys than I have. Wait, I'm Hermione Granger, the head girl. When have I ever cared about this? _

She hit herself on the head with the book in annoyance. She rubbed her forehead because the book had hurt.

She was sinking to the level of Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. _You couldn't get much lower than that._ Hermione dropped the book and buried her head in her hands, closing her eyes and groaned gently.

"What's wrong?"

Hermione's eyes snapped open behind her hands. She opened her fingers and peeped through and down. Harry was craning his head back staring at her upside down. Obviously she had just woken him.

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that crap. You forget, I know you better than you do."

Hermione grinned and patted his head patronisingly. Surprisingly he didn't swat her away like he usually did. "There is something wrong, but you can hardly be expected to help with it." _Although I REALLY wish you could!_

"This isn't a lady parts problem is it?" he cringed.

"No."

"It could hardly be school work, because, well, it's you."

"Nope, not that either."

Harry turned around to face her. He leant against her legs and gave her his best puppy dog face. "Well, what then?"

"It's embarrassing." She turned her head away from him to hide her reddening cheeks.

"Come on 'Mione it's me. What can you not tell me?"

She turned her head back to face him. "You really wanna know? Okay. I'm eighteen and I've never been kissed by a guy."

"But you've never worried about kissing before. What brought all this on?"

"Sergeant Sleepy over there." she jerked her thumb towards the prostrate Ron.

Harry sniggered. "Was he having that dream again?"

"You know about that dream?"

"Yeah. I've shared a room with him for seven years, including holidays. And he has a tendency to talk in his sleep. Most of them are about being attacked by spiders in some way or another. I'm guessing the one you overheard was the one where he's kissing you and gets interrupted by someone."

"Does he have it a lot?"

"Other than the tap-dance spider one, it's his most frequent one."

Hermione blinked at him. "Tap-dancing spiders?"

"Don't ask."

Hermione laughed in spite of herself.

"So you heard him and that sparked off this train of thought? It's nothing to worry about."

"Says the second biggest stud in the school."

"Second? Who beat me?"

"Draco."

"Look if you really want I'll give you some coaching."

"In kissing?"

"And other stuff. If you want."

"Okay."

"But I think we have a problem. Sergeant Sleepy himself. He's had a crush on you for about five years."

"I know, Harry. Was kinda obvious. So, what are we gonna do about him?"

"You could just let me help." Ron's voice said somewhere in the background.

Turning they saw him fully awake and grinning furiously at them.

"You heard that?"

"You were speaking so loudly I couldn't help hearing. And thank you Harry for revealing my secret." Ron's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Ron, I already knew. Subtlety isn't your strongest point."

"No, but kissing is. Harry may have talent when it comes to all the other stuff but I won the poll for the best kisser in the school."

"Only just." Harry grumbled.

Hermione sniggered. "So what are we going to do?"

"I can teach you how to kiss properly and then Harry can take over and teach you how to do other stuff."

"Uh, ok." Hermione stuttered, not completely comfortable with the plan.

"When should we get started?" Ron asked casually, in the same way Hermione did when she was discussing a new potions project with them.

Hermione blinked. _This could go sooooooooo wrong. But I can't think of any arguments against it. Why can't I think of any arguments against it? This is so going to blow up in our faces. There must be something seriously wrong with me._


	2. Hermione's First Kiss

Ron nudged Hermione at breakfast the next morning. "Psst! When do you want your first lesson?"

"This quickly?" she hissed back.

"Well, yeah. The year's almost over. Come on, Head Girl, where's your courage gone?" Ron, to her utter dismay, had raised his voice a little and their friends were listening in curiously.

Hermione swallowed while she thought of an answer. "Harry stole it all for our adventures."

Ron guffawed and everyone around them sniggered, Harry included. "Nice one." He said.

"Room of Requirement. Tonight. Eight thirty." Ron whispered to her under cover of the laughter. Hermione grinned nervously and nodded. Truth was she was feeling apprehensive about kissing Ron. And then about doing other stuff with Harry later.

At seven thirty she paused outside the door of the Room of Requirement. She knew that no good could come of this because emotions could get very messed up.

_Get in there Hermione! Just go in there and try not to fall for him. You may as well learn how to kiss, but that is ALL you are getting out of this…right?_

Taking a deep steadying breath she pushed open the door and then blinked at the shape the room had taken. She had just walked into the Gryffindor common room. Ron sat on the sofa before the fire reading Quidditch Through The Ages. He glanced up as he heard the door open. He grinned at her.

"Uh, why?" Hermione stuttered.

"I thought you might like to learn in a familiar setting." He replied casually. He patted the space on the sofa next to him and she moved towards him, trying to be casual but failing rather spectacularly. "Why you so nervous? It's only me."

"You wouldn't understand. So how do we start?"

"This first session is just to see what you can do in the line of kissing, and then I'll know how much you need to learn from me. That okay? Go ahead. Pucker up."

_Oh god. Okay here goes. I wish he'd close his eyes. They're awfully distracting._

"Would it help if I shut my eyes?" he asked softly. Hermione nodded and he did so.

Tentatively she leant in and, against all her better judgement, pressed her lips against his.

It was nothing more than a quick peck, very simple and very uncomfortable for Hermione.

When she pulled back Ron grinned at her and she bit her lip nervously. Judgement time.

After what seemed like years, although it was probably only a matter of seconds, Ron said "Is that it?"

Hermione sank her head into her hands and started shaking with laughter. "I can't believe that just happened." She said between laughs.

"Why are you laughing, are you crazy, woman?"

"I have no idea why." She giggled.

She really didn't. For some unfathomable reason she had got the giggles. And Ron was looking severely put out. His brow furrowed and he tried to think of a way to stop her giggles.

_Stop it! Hehehe! STOP IT! Hermione! Stop laughing!! Think of something sad. Like Ron dying or something. I bet he would have a funny look on his face. That's not right. Why can't I stop laughing? Whoa! What's Ron doing? Okay, that's new. That's interesting._

Ron had leant forward and was now kissing her passionately, his arms snaking round her.

_Wow. He really is a good kisser. Is that supposed to go there?_ as his tongue slid out and ran along her bottom lip. _Ron is kissing me! This is not good! Wait…this is why I'm here. _Ron's tongue begged for entry and she let him. _Thank god I thought to brush my teeth before I left the dorm. Am also thankful I chewed that mint on the way up here. _His tongue played with hers gently. _Wow. That's new. Where did he learn to do that? I wonder which girl taught him. Can't you ever stop thinking? _His tongue was now exploring her mouth and she sighed against his lips. _Okay I think I can safely say our friendship is effectively ruined. Why can't I stop thinking long enough to enjoy this? Where are his hands going? Oh. _He rubbed her back and then his hands wandered lower. _What the heck is he doing?! Oh that._ He pulled her onto his lap. _He thinks he's in charge? Not while I'm around. _She wound her hands into his flaming hair and moaned seductively in the back of her throat. _Hah! That got him! Ooh! Now he's reacting. Best end this before it goes even more wrong._

Hermione pulled out of the kiss and Ron opened his eyes in surprise.

"You've wanted to do that for a long time, haven't you?"

"How could you tell?"

Silently she pointed down. He glanced down and then grabbed the book and covered himself with it. Hermione grinned and got off his lap and waited for him to calm down a little. He took several deep breaths and Hermione checked her nails patiently.

"So?" she said coolly when he was significantly less excited. "How was I?"

"Good…good." Hermione couldn't help laughing at his 'play it cool' attitude, but she could tell how happy he was.

"A little more feedback would be helpful."

"Oh! Yeah. Um. You've got the basics and I know what you need to be taught, although you definitely know how to get a reaction from a guy. Can I ask how you knew how to do that?"

Hermione giggled a little. "Being a wallflower has it's advantages." At his puzzled look she went on. "Sometimes when Draco and I are on the evening rounds we stay quiet and watch the couples snogging in classrooms a bit before we go break them up and send them back to their common rooms."

Ron's mouth dropped open. "You spy on people making out?"

"Mostly for the gossip factor. Draco uses the titbits we find out to blackmail them whne he needs something."

"But he's Head Boy, he shouldn't be doing that."

"Ron, which house is Draco in?"

"Slytherin. Oh." He laughed nervously. "I get it now."

"That's my boy. Now if we're done here, I have to go do the rounds with said Slytherin."

"How can you stand to be around him so much, I mean, you always have to work with him. And I assume it goes both ways."

"Why? Because I'm a mudblood?"

"No! Well, from his point of view you are."

"He got over it. He's actually quite nice and a perfect gentleman once you become his friend. Are you done?" Ron nodded dumbly. "Let me know when you want to meet up again." Hermione finished as she left the room.

As she set off down the corridor Ron called her back. Turning she saw him leaning against the wall.

"'Mione, you wanna go out with me sometime?"

_Aww! How cute. He just asked me out. Oh god what do I tell him?_

"I'll think about it." Hermione winked at him and he grinned at her. "Now get back to the common room before I give you a detention."

She could still hear him laughing at the bottom of the spiral stairs leading up to the seventh floor. Chuckling she went over to the tapestry which hung opposite the door of the Room of Requirement. Moving it aside carefully revealed a secret passage. Even Fred and George hadn't found this one. It led strait down to the entrance hall. It was a bit like a laundry elevator, small and cramped, but very handy for getting places quickly.

She stumbled out of the hole in the wall and bumped into Draco as he waited for her next to the staircase.

"Laundry chute?" he said, smirking at her.

She grinned and giggled a little. He looked at her curiously.

"What? I had to get here quickly. I was late as it is."

"How come?"

"Okay, don't laugh, but Ron was giving me some lessons."

"Let me get this strait, Ron Weasley was giving you, Hermione Granger, lessons? What was he teaching you?" Draco said as they started on the great hall before moving up a floor and peeking into the classrooms.

"He was teaching me how to kiss." Hermione said quietly, barely more than a mutter. In the silence of the corridor he heard it though.

"Excuse me? Why didn't you come to me? I can teach you all of that, and more. Remember, I know how to please women and men."

"Draco. If I had, then what do you think Harry and Ron would say when they found out I asked you instead of them?"

"How does Harry come into it?" Draco spotted a pair in one of the classrooms and they went in and sent the Ravenclaw's to their common room with a warning.

"Harry's going to teach me other stuff, once Ron is confident that I can kiss like a French tart, Harry will take over and teach me the next step."

"I can do that. I know stuff that even Harry doesn't know."

"How do you know that?"

"Easy. I've slept with some of his ex girlfriends. What? They're nicer when he's done with them."

"You are such a man-whore." She said with affection.

"Oh, I know." He grinned cheekily at her.

"And you're bloody proud of it aren't you?"

"Wouldn't you be?"

"Fair point."

As they patrolled the fourth floor Hermione told him about the first kissing lesson. He guffawed.

"Trust you to be the dominant one, even when you don't know what you're doing." He chuckled.

They shooed another pair out of a classroom and then realised who they were. Blaise Zambini and Ginny Weasley. A more unlikely pair would be hard to find.

"Blaise?" Draco's mouth dropped open.

"Gin?" Hermione's fell likewise.


	3. Patrol With Draco

"I can't believe you're still doing this." Draco complained as Hermione emerged from the Room of Requirement one night a few weeks later. She was looking very dishevelled and quite pleased with herself. Obviously the lesson had gone well.

"Don't look so grumpy, Draco. I can snog like a pro. Well that's what Harry says anyway." Hermione smirked and winked at him.

Draco chuckled. "So I take it you've moved on from Ron?"

"Like a week ago." She replied as they started patrols. "Ron dug the foundations, Harry is building the house, and you my friend are going to decorate it."

"Does this mean I'm going to be allowed to impart my knowledge?"

"Hell yeah!"

They proceeded down a corridor.

"But not a word to Harry and Ron." She said stopping him.

"Of course. Harry'd fry my arse if he found out I was doing stuff with you."

"I know, and we'd both like that butt to stay in one piece and on your body. Hang on, is that Pansy Parkinson? Who's she with?"

"No idea. Well I for one am glad she found someone, because I was getting sick of her following me around like a lapdog."

"Wasn't she engaged to you an hour after she was born?"

"Half an hour. But with the deaths of both our fathers the betrothal has been broken. I guess she's living it up now that she's a free woman."

"Wanna go find out who she's with?"

Draco grinned and she giggled. As quietly as she could she pushed open the door.

"Well, well, what have we here? Miss Parkinson and Mr …WEASLEY?! Ron!?" Hermione said, her mouth dropping open in surprise. _Pansy and Ron? There's a weird couple. I'd hate to see what their kids look like. Oh no. Is that jealousy? Hermione, you like Harry remember? Yes, yes you do. Don't I? Oh hell. That is such bad timing. Damn you, hormones!_

"Hi Hermione." He replied sheepishly. _Ha ha. At least he's uncomfortable about it. But I thought he fancied me back? I'm confused._

"Draco." Pansy nodded to Draco curtly.

"Never would have figured you'd date a Weasley, Pansy." Draco said smirking.

"What?" she replied defensively. "He's a great kisser."

"I totally agree." Hermione said, winking at Draco who suppressed a chuckle.

Ron glared at her.

"You two had better get back to your common rooms." Draco said sweetly.

As they left Hermione looked at Draco and raised her eyebrows. "Maybe they won't mind."

He raised one of his eyebrows and slinked towards her. "Wanna test it out?"

Her mouth dropped open and she noticed that Draco's arms were now around her waist. Before she could say anything he was kissing her.

_Oh My GOD!! Draco is kissing me!! Do something you great lump! What? Kiss him back! Now! Wow, Draco is Casanova. Is that his tongue?_

Hermione ran her hands through his silvery hair and his hands moved from her waist to her bottom. Ron had taught her well and she felt Draco's hands tighten a little as she sucked on his tongue a little. She bit on his bottom lip gently and solicited another small moan from him.

Then she removed her mouth and kissed him along his jaw line to suck on the sensitive area under his earlobe. He moaned again and she felt one of his hands move from her bottom to her waist again. Then further up slowly. She reclaimed his mouth and felt his hand cup her breast. She moaned in the back of her throat, making her lips vibrate slightly.

_Ooh! That was naughty. What's that? Ah. Seems I can generate a reaction from Draco too. I'm getting good at this. Oh, that feels good. Now time to leave him in the cold._

She slowly and luxuriously pulled away, wiped her mouth and stepped away from Draco. He looked stunned as she smirked at him. Winking at him she sashayed out of the room. Once outside Draco heard her snort with laughter.

She walked down the corridor and a moment later Draco joined her, trying to make his hair behave.

"That was not nice." He said reproachfully.

"The kissing bit was."

"That's not what I meant." Hermione giggled at him. "Hermione, when did you get like this?"

"I think the bad boy successfully transformed the good little girl into a very bad one." She purred sexily stretching out the word 'very'.

_Oh! That got him. I like toying with them. They don't expect me to either because no one ever suspects the quiet ones. Aw. He's cute when he pouts. Oh look there's Harry._

"Hey Harry. You took your time coming out of the Room of Requirement."

"Well I had to calm down, didn't I? You sure know how to get a guy's motor going."

"I'll say!" Draco said grumpily. Harry looked at him in confusion.

"What can I say, boys? I've broken free." Hermione smirked the Malfoy smirk and Draco looked outraged that she had used it.

With one hand resting on her waist she sauntered down the corridor and sent Blaise and Ginny out of a classroom like nothing was wrong.

"Women!" Draco grumbled.

"I hear you!" Harry replied as he set off for his common room.


	4. Hermione's Predicament

Hermione giggled a little as she got ready for bed that night. Toying with all three boys was so much fun.

When she had returned to the common room she had found Ron waiting for her to check over an essay for him. She had done so and given him the comments before saying goodnight and kissing him tenderly on the lips. He stared after her in surprise as she flounced over to the girls staircase.

She was tired so she fell asleep quickly. She then had three dreams which woke her up after each one.

The first was her kissing Harry passionately. He had gasped out "Hermione I love you so much." when they had paused for breath and she had replied that she too loved him.

Hermione sat up slightly as she awoke in surprise. She shrugged it off and went to sleep again.

This time she dreamt that it was Ron she was kissing and the same thing happened as in the first one. He said he loved her and said it back.

Hermione awoke with a slight intake of breath and stared at the ceiling of her four-poster bed. _Both of them? Both boys?_

She drifted off to sleep again and again she had the same dream, except with Draco in it, kissing her before exchanging 'I love you's.

This time she sat up fully as she woke up and gasped loudly.

"Oh god!" she said aloud.

Hermione couldn't get back to sleep after that. She got out of her warm bed and paced the dorm for a minute, wringing her hands fretfully.

_This cannot be happening. How can I have fallen for three boys, at the same time!? _

She glanced at the alarm clock on her bedside table. The time was two thirty. Lavender Brown stirred in her sleep and Hermione fled down the corridor and stairs to the common room.

The fire was dying as she settled herself in the chair Harry usually occupied in the evenings. She stared into the slightly crackling embers and tried not to breathe in the scent of Harry that the chair was emitting.

_How could you let yourself get into this situation? You have feelings for three boys. Two of them are your best friends and the other was your enemy until the war against Voldy-shorts. It only took three dreams to make you realise your feelings. It won't take much to figure out what to do about it. This can't happen, Hermione. You must choose. Which do you prefer? Which boy?_

_Think about it logically. Weigh up the pros and cons._

_Harry- Pros: sweet, best friend, would make perfect boyfriend, athletic, gorgeous, loyal,_

_Cons: too much media attention, we've been disgraced by the papers already when they thought we were dating, would ruin friendship with Ron for both of us, troubled mind, might get possessive and neurotic, _

_Ron- Pros: adorably cute, excellent kisser, best friend after Harry, already fancies me back, loyal though, sweet when he remembers to be, if I went out with him Harry wouldn't throw a fit as Ron would if I went out with Harry,_

_Cons: possessive, gets very jealous very easily, slightly dumb, would never give me a moments peace, _

_Draco- Pros: majorly sexy, the classic bad guy, nice, can have lots of fun with him, good listener, very experienced, will make wonderful lover, _

_Cons: media would jump on it immediately, may lose both best friends due to personal history, may turn out to be a rat bastard boyfriend, _

_This is not good. Thinking logically didn't help…for once. I need to talk to someone about this. But who can I talk to? Someone who knows all of us intimately, who I'm comfortable talking about this kind of stuff with, someone who won't judge me, someone like…_

She heard someone come down the stairs and then Ginny's voice said "Hermione? What are you still doing up?"

_Someone like Ginny!_

"I have a problem. Do you think you could help me with it?" she said winsomely.

Ginny grinned and hopped over the back of the couch to sit on it. "Happy to help. What's up?"

"I have boy troubles."

Ginny nearly fell off the sofa in surprise. "You have boy troubles? When did that happen? Sorry. I'm back. Tell me about them. Which boy?"

"That's the problem. It's not one boy. It's three." In a few short words Hermione told her friend about her predicament.

Ginny's face was impassive for a moment, then she sniggered. "Finally! Hermione Granger, you are finally a teenager!"

"Ginny…" Hermione began reproachfully.

"No, I'm serious. I didn't think you would ever get yourself into this situation."

"Yeah but how do I get out of it?"

Ginny giggled a little. "Easy. Most people would ask you which one do you fancy the most, which would you prefer? But I say which one would you rather have sex with?"

"Ginny!"

"Well, answer the question. Which one would you rather have sex with? Harry, Draco or Ron?"

"Definitely not Ron. That narrows it down to Harry and Draco. Which would you choose?" Hermione asked slyly.

"Hmm. A few years ago I would have said Harry, but Draco's starting to get more appealing."

"The bad boy routine. Got me too."

Ginny smirked bemusedly. "I guess that's what it is. Who are you going to choose?"

"I don't know!" Hermione wailed. "What am I going to do? My first instinct is not to tell the guys."

"I think you should. I think we should have a competition. They have to compete against each other to help you decide."

"That's not very fair, Ron'll lose in a heartbeat."

"Very good point. But if they know about it they can show you which one wants you more and which one you want more."

"I don't even know if they fancy me back. Well I know Ron does, but, well, that one was obvious."

"Want me to do some sleuthing for you?"

Hermione smiled. "Might help. Don't tell them though. Just make it seem like you're curious about it."

"Will do." Hermione didn't see Ginny cross her fingers as she spoke.


	5. The Boys Find Out

"Hermione, why didn't you tell me?" Ron asked conversationally at breakfast a few days later.

"About what? You know I have no secrets from you."

"That's not true. Will you go out with me? I know you have feelings for me."

Hermione paled slightly. "You do?"

"Yes and I couldn't be happier."

"Excuse me." Hermione rose and walked down between the tables to the doors.

_What was all that about?_

Draco stopped her at the doors and asked her out.

_Eh?_

She stared at him in shock. "Let me get back to you on that." she said hurriedly as she left the hall.

Outside she almost bumped into Harry. He drew her into a hug and whispered an invitation to go to the next Hogsmeade trip with him.

_Ok this is weird. Three in one day? Either I look incredibly hot today…or someone told…and I only told one person…Ginny is sooo dead!_

She pushed him away gently and paled still further. "Why are you asking me out?"

"Ginny told me you have feelings for me. And I just wanted you to know that I return them."

_I knew it! Ginny Weasley had better watch her back. Better make sure I heard right._

"Ginny?" Harry nodded. "GINNY!!!!!" Hermione shrieked. Everyone in the castle heard her and she marched back towards the great hall.

Hermione advanced on Ginny who trembled. "Ginny Weasley, answer a question for me please." Hermione said almost pleasantly. "Do you recall my asking you to keep certain topics private?"

Everyone in the hall fell silent watching this bit of street theatre.

"Yes I do. And technically I did."

"Then tell me why all three boys in question know about it?!!" Hermione didn't seem to realise she was shouting.

"I know, I'm sorry. It slipped out."

"With all three of them?"

"Yes." Ginny mumbled uncertainly.

"Wait, three?" Ron said standing up. "Who're the others? Oh." As Harry and Draco came towards them. "I have to compete with them?! Are you crazy!?"

"Hermione, what's going on?" Draco asked as though he actually would rather not hear.

"Not here." Hermione led the way out to the entrance hall leaving the rest of the school to titter about what had happened between the closest bunch of friends in the school to make Hermione so mad. "Okay, Ginny told you all something I would rather not have spread around. But I gather she only told you the parts concerning yourselves."

"Hermione, get to the point. What's this all about?"

"I will Harry. I don't really know how to say this but I can't choose between you."

Pause. An excruciating silence.

"Huh?" Draco said.

"I have a crush on all three of you, and I don't know which one I like more." Tentatively she looked up at the boys. Two looked blankly back, Ron only looked concerned.

_Did I just do that? Did I really just tell them? Could I be more of an idiot? Oh poor Ron, he looks so sad. I guess he thinks he can't compete with Harry and Draco._

"Alright." Harry said after he had digested this. "How do you decide?"

"That's just it, I don't know. Any suggestions?"

**a/n: sorry its really short...i've got uni deadlines within the next few days so i haven't a lot of time to write...i put on a short one because my reviewer were practically begging for a chapter...and i don't like to dissapoint my reviewers.**


	6. Hermione's Decision

Ginny sought Hermione out a few days after Hermione told the boys. "Mione, can I talk to you about something? Look you can ignore me all you want, you still need to hear what I have to say. Look… Blaise dumped me."

Here Hermione turned to look at her. "I'm sorry. How come?"

"I'm not bothered by it, we were only fooling around anyway. But I feel I have to tell you the reason he jilted me. I must say you are on fire recently. You have four admirers, not three."

"You…you mean Blaise…?"

"Exactly. He said he didn't feel comfortable goofing around with me when he had such strong feelings for you."

Hermione turned and started to walk back down the corridor to class while Ginny followed. Suddenly Hermione keeled over and collapsed in a dead faint. Ginny tried to rouse her and then saw Harry, Ron and Draco with Blaise in tow coming down the corridor heading for the same class as Hermione had initially been destined for.

"Guys! Thank god. Can you carry her to the hospital wing for me? I'm not strong enough."

"What happened to her?" Ron asked as Draco and Harry lifted her between them.

"She found out about the fourth."

"You told her?" Blaise accused Ginny as they proceeded back up the corridor.

"I thought it necessary. I thought she, being Hermione, should have all the facts in before she decides."

"That sounds like Hermione all right." Harry mumbled to Draco as they carried her down a staircase.

About two hours later Hermione woke up. "Where am I?"

"Hospital wing."

"How the hell did I manage to get here?"

"We carried you." turning her head Hermione saw Harry sitting nearby.

"You didn't do it by yourself. Who helped?"

"Draco."

"How come you're the only one left?" Hermione said looking around, there was no others in the wing.

"I could ask myself the same question." Harry put on his most charming smile as he spoke. "Have you made up your mind yet? Who are going to pick?"

"I knew you were going to ask me that. I don't know. I can't choose any of them because I'll piss off someone else. It's like no matter who I pick the others will hate each other forever and it doesn't help that you and Ron are best friends and Draco and Blaise likewise."

"Hermione, stop thinking about what other people would want and start following your heart. Who do you want to be with the most?"

"Honestly? It's a very close draw between you and Draco."

"That's good news. Who do you think will win?"

"How should I know? I don't even know why you all fell for me and I likewise."

"I do. You're smart, and funny, and you don't take crap from anyone. You're beautiful, and talented, and sweet. You bloomed but you didn't change. There's something about you that is just irresistible. You were never ugly but you grew in confidence as the years went on and now you're a butterfly instead of a moth."

_Aww! How adorable. That's so sweet of him. Wait…say something._

"I'm a bug?"

"That's not what I meant. It was a metaphor."

"I'm just messing with you."

They heard the others coming back up the corridor.

"Harry," Hermione hissed. "I know who I'm going to pick."

"Who?" he whispered urgently.

She pointed at him and mouthed 'You."

He split into a broad grin and leant over the bed to kiss her.

"Guess you made up your mind, then." Draco's voice said.

The two broke apart and grinned sheepishly.

"Yeah," Hermione said. "Sorry."


End file.
